Comrade Trinh Thuyet - a steadfast Soviet soldier of Nghe Tinh, an outstanding son of his hometown Thanh Chuong
Born into a country in ruins, comrade Trinh Thuyet (also known as Trinh Van Thuyet, Trinh Van Chau) soon became aware of the miserable life of the Dai Dong people in general and of his own parents in particular.
In "Thanh Chuong district history", Dr. Bui Duong Lich - former Director of Education of Nghe An commented on Thanh Chuong land:
"... Land bordered by three dangerous rivers
Mountain shaped like a thousand galloping horses
Chapter and Fragrance split into two directions.
Lam, Pho, three branches...".
The geographical situation and the rich tradition of the locality have created the identity of Thanh Chuong people: simple, honest, thrifty, studious, but also very generous, full of sacrifice, steadfast in storms... Promoting the tradition of their homeland, in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement (1930-1931), Thanh Chuong people enthusiastically stood up to participate in the struggles under the glorious flag of the Party. This is also where the Soviet government was first established on Nghe Tinh land. During that struggle, many names of places, people and their contributions and sacrifices were imprinted in history and poetry. Comrade Trinh Thuyet, a son of Thanh Phong land, Thanh Chuong is one of such examples.
Comrade Trinh Thuyet (also known as Trinh Van Thuyet, Trinh Van Chau) was born in 1901, in a poor family in Thanh Bang village, Phong Son commune, Dai Dong canton (now Thanh Phong commune), Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An. Born into a country lost and a home destroyed, Trinh Van Thuyet was soon aware of the miserable life of the Dai Dong people in general and of his own parents in particular. His hatred for the enemy and his growing desire to break free and demand freedom urged comrade Trinh Thuyet to join the local patriotic movement.
On July 14, 1925, at Con Meo Mountain in Vinh - Ben Thuy, the Phuc Viet Association was founded. Patriotic sons of Thanh Chuong homeland such as Ton Quang Phiet, Nguyen Sy Sach... joined the association one after another and took on the task of developing local bases in Phong Son, Vo Liet, Ngoc Son villages... In 1928, the Tan Viet Grandmaster in Thanh Chuong carried out propaganda work, enlightening national consciousness through progressive patriotic literature and poetry. Like a drought meeting a shower of rain, the patriotic young man Trinh Thuyet was absorbed day and night in those progressive patriotic literary works and thoughts and was gradually admitted into the organization. Comrade Trinh Thuyet was an active member in reading books, newspapers, and propagating patriotic thoughts. During his activities, he introduced many more active people to the organization. Not only propagandizing, he also enthusiastically participated in the struggles for rights in the locality. Before 1930, Trinh Thuyet and his comrades in the Tan Viet and Thanh Nien sub-groups in Thanh Chuong organized and mobilized people to participate in 29 struggles to demand rights and fight against taxes and Westernization...
On March 20, 1930, the conference of delegates of Thanh Chuong communist party cells under the direct leadership of the Central Region Party Committee was convened at Tien Son Temple (Thanh Long, Thanh Chuong). The conference elected the provisional Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Thanh Chuong district led by comradeSun Jia Xingas Secretary. Immediately after its establishment, the District Party Committee sent party members to villages and communes to promote the development of grassroots party organizations as well as organizations, unions and the masses.
Assigned by Thanh Chuong District Party Committee and Dai Dong General Committee, comrades Nguyen Viet Trung and Nguyen Canh Ke quickly went to Phong Son to establish contacts to build a Party base. Also during that time, Anh Son District Party Committee and Thuan Trung General Committee sent comrades Nguyen Canh Dang and Nguyen Sy Doan to Thanh Bang village to build a base. The comrades contacted Trinh Thuyet and Nguyen Dinh Phan... who were agile young men with revolutionary enthusiasm in Phong Son. Comrade Trinh Thuyet was admitted to the Party and was elected as the leader of Thanh Bang village's Party cell.(1), directly under the Central Committee of Thuan Trung. Immediately after that, comrades Trinh Thuyet, Nguyen Dinh Phan... stepped up propaganda work and revolutionary enlightenment for the people.
On July 21, 1930, comrade Trinh Thuyet attended a secret meeting of the Thuan Trung General Committee (Anh Son) and the Dai Dong General Committee (Thanh Chuong) at Mr. Nguyen Dinh Phuc's house. At this meeting, the two General Committees discussed and agreed on the handover of party members to establish a party cell. The Phong Son Party Cell was established with 7 party members: Trinh Thuyet, Nguyen Dinh Phan, Phan Pho, Nguyen Trong Cuon, Trinh Xuan Hue, Nguyen Van Tha, Trinh Dang. Comrade Trinh Thuyet was both the Party Cell Secretary and directly participated in the local Red Guard team.(2).
Immediately after its establishment, in order to prepare forces for the struggle movement, comrade Trinh Thuyet promoted propaganda work to consolidate and develop local mass organizations. Thanks to the active activities of comrade Trinh Thuyet and comrades in the Party cell, in just a short time, mass organizations of Phong Son commune such as: Farmers' Association, Youth, Women's Association developed their forces to the villages and hamlets. In addition, each village established a self-defense team equipped with spears and sticks, with the task of protecting meetings and rallies.
In the atmosphere of the fighting spirit of Nghe Tinh workers and farmers, Thanh Chuong District Party Committee continued to meet to analyze the enemy's plot and decided to organize a demonstration on a district-wide scale on September 1, 1930. Immediately after the conference, implementing the resolution of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, comrade Trinh Thuyet and comrades in the Party cell held a meeting, assigning specific tasks to each comrade. In addition, comrade Trinh Thuyet also directed Phong Son Party Cell to quickly mobilize the people of the whole commune to respond and participate in the demonstration.
On the night of August 31, 1930, comrade Trinh Thuyet and Phong Son Party Cell guided the people to gather at Nhuong Pagoda. After listening to the Party Cell's speech about the crimes of the French colonialists and their puppet government, the protesters immediately shouted slogans of struggle. Immediately after that, comrade Trinh Thuyet and the Party members guided the Phong Son Commune protesters to start moving and join the Dai Dong General delegation and then march straight down to Ro. Leaflets were scattered everywhere. Red flags were planted on the roofs of communal houses, tall trees and mountain tops. On both sides of Lam River, long and short ferries, small boats, and basket boats were mobilized as means of transportation for the people to cross at the right time and gathering time. Under the guidance of the Party Cell, the protesters organized in neat ranks, marching while holding high flags and banners, with self-defense teams on both sides. The fierce fighting spirit of the Thanh Chuong people quickly disintegrated the enemy government in the district and commune. District chief Phan Sy Bang had to abandon his seal and flee. Enemy commanders at Rao Gang post, Dang market post, Bich Thi post, Thanh Qua post, and Rang post all surrendered one after another.
The historic demonstration on September 1, 1930 by the people of Thanh Chuong is considered the starting point marking the birth of the Nghe Tinh Soviet government in the revolutionary movement of 1930-1931. The people of Phong Son under the leadership of the Party cell, headed by comrade Trinh Thuyet, contributed to the victory of the struggle of the people of the whole district.
Faced with the strong development of the struggle movement in Thanh Chuong, the French colonialists and the feudal government of the Southern Dynasty of Nghe An province implemented a series of terrorist policies to suppress the revolutionary movement here, such as: declaring martial law, establishing dozens of Western posts with a system of soldiers in green and blue uniforms, foreign legionnaires, bandits, porters, etc.
Implementing the Resolution and policies of the District Party Congress on October 4, 1930, comrade Trinh Thuyet and the Phong Son Party Cell assigned party members and cadres to each village and hamlet to propagate and educate the masses to understand and be more vigilant against the enemy's new plots and tricks. On the other hand, comrade Trinh Thuyet and the Party Cell proactively strengthened the self-defense force and maintained the work of marching, monitoring, and suppressing the local landlords and lackeys who were raising their heads to sabotage the local revolutionary movement. Thanks to the active activities of the Phong Son Party Cell headed by comrade Trinh Thuyet, the situation in Phong Son remained relatively safe, and the revolutionary movement was maintained.
In addition, realizing that Phong Son's terrain is in a favorable position, being the junction between Anh Son, Yen Thanh, Nam Dan, and Nghi Loc districts, Nghe An Provincial Party Committee agreed to move the agency to Phong Son commune. During the time the Provincial Party Committee's agency operated here, Phong Son Party Cell, comrade Trinh Thuyet and the people devoted themselves to protecting, hiding, and ensuring the safety of the Provincial Party Committee members as well as the Party's secret documents.(3).
However, after a while, the French colonialists commanded a group of soldiers in green uniforms to move to Phong Son. Having been informed that comrade Trinh Thuyet was a key communist soldier in the locality, they ordered their soldiers to burn down his house and tried to search and arrest him. On January 18, 1932, after a period of imprisonment and torture but without being able to extract any information, the French colonialists and the puppet Southern Dynasty Court sentenced him to "9 years of hard labor and 5 years of house arrest for revolutionary activities against the French - Southern Dynasty government".(4). In prison, comrade Trinh Thuyet always maintained the spirit of a communist, turning the prison into a school for meetings, propaganda, and revolutionary enlightenment. He enthusiastically participated in movements to protect prisoners and oppose harsh prison regimes organized by the Vinh Prison Communist Party Cell such as: fighting for people's livelihood, opposing torture and beatings, protecting and caring for sick people, the elderly, and women in many forms: "making noise", "hunger strike", shouting slogans... On October 6, 1933, with his revolutionary activities in prison, comrade Trinh Thuyet continued to be "sentenced to life imprisonment by the Nam Trieu Court of Nghe An province".(5).
In July 1937, comrade Trinh Thuyet, upon his release from prison, immediately contacted comrade Nguyen Tat Thang in Dien Chau and Nguyen Van Niem in Anh Son to promote the restoration of the Party's base. On that basis, Phong Son Party Cell was restored with comrade Trinh Thuyet as Secretary. Due to the special situation, at that time Phong Son Party Cell was directly under the Anh Son District Party Committee.(6). Having just been restored, Thanh Phong Party Cell immediately began its activities. On the one hand, comrades focused on propagating the Party's new policies, on the other hand, he directed the Party Cell to restore and develop more friendly organizations such as the Hieu Nghia Association, the thatched roofing ward... and mobilized the people, led movements to fight against local landlords against excessive surcharges, taxes, and public corruption... Thanks to those active activities, in Phong Son, the consequences of the enemy's white terror policy were gradually overcome.
In 1939, the French colonialists increased their forces, brutally suppressed and terrorized the Vietnamese revolution in general and Nghe An in particular on a large scale. At the end of 1939, comrade Trinh Thuyet fell into the enemy's hands. In March 1940, the enemy classified him as an "element especially dangerous to national security".(7).
After a period of imprisonment in the imperial prison, in May 1945, comrade Trinh Thuyet was released, immediately contacted and met to discuss the plan to build a local Viet Minh organization with comrades Nguyen Quang Duong and Nguyen Viet Ke. At the end of June 1945, the Viet Minh Front of Phong Son commune was born, leading the revolutionary movement in Phong Son in the new situation. Then, on August 18, 1945, the Phong Son Commune Uprising Committee was established with comrade Trinh Thuyet as its head, leading the people of Phong Son to successfully rise up and seize power. After the uprising, comrade Trinh Thuyet was organized and elected by the people to hold the position of Chairman of the Provisional People's Revolutionary Committee (August 1945 - February 1946). In March 1946, comrade Trinh Thuyet continued to be elected to hold the position of Chairman of the Phong Son Commune Administrative Committee. During the resistance war against the US to save the country, he held many important positions and made many contributions to his homeland... In 1961, on the occasion of Uncle Ho's second visit to his homeland, he and other revolutionary elders in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement had the honor of meeting and taking photos with him.
Comrade Trinh Thuyet, a young communist soldier, the first Secretary of Phong Son Party Cell, with his great contributions to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the People, was honored by the Party and the State, awarded with noble titles: First Class Resistance Medal, Second Class Independence Medal, 50-year Party membership badge... Comrade Trinh Thuyet's life and revolutionary career are worthy of being a shining example for today's and future generations to follow.
Note:
(1). Before the establishment of Phong Son Party Cell, there were two Party cells in Phong Son: Thanh Bang Party Cell with comrade Trinh Thuyet as cell leader and Party cells in Phu Tho, Dien Trang, My Hoa with comrade Nguyen Dinh Phan as cell leader.
(2). Thanh Phong land and people, 2005, p.74.
(3). History of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee (1930-2010), Social Sciences Publishing House, Hanoi, 2010, p.92 has information: Comrade Trinh Thuyet was a member of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee in 1931.
(4), (5). According to French secret police files provided by the Ministry of Public Security.
(6). History of Thanh Phong Commune Party Committee (1930-2015), Vinh University Publishing House, 2018, p.62.
(7). According to French secret police files provided by the Ministry of Public Security.